Dear members of the St Raphael’s school community,

Congratulations to the Year 6 children who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday. Confirmation ceremonies are such memorable occasions and it was wonderful to be able to share the occasion in the church as a whole school community.

We thank Bishop Terry Curtin, Fr Simon, and all of the staff and families for their support and assistance. Special thanks to Rosalba Squarci and the Year 5/6 teachers, Emma Sbizzirri, Anatasia Dullard, Matthew Vernal and Maxwell Allan who prepared the children for the Confirmation celebration.

Yesterday we celebrated World Harmony Day. We pray for peace in Ukraine and continue to keep the Ukrainian people in our thoughts and prayers.

School Review

Next week we welcome Mrs Judi Hanke into our school as the official independent school reviewer. This important quadrennial school review will take place on Tuesday 29 March and Thursday 31 March.

2023 School Enrolments and Open Day

Our next School Open Day is today 23rd March at 9.30 - 10.30 am & 12 - 1 pm. We welcome all prospective parents. A reminder to all existing families to please submit their enrolment forms for 2023. Our Foundation numbers are filling up fast and we want to ensure that we have a place for your children next year.

Cyberbullying Support

Since remote online learning, many children have become reliant on communicating with each other via digital technologies. As a certified eSmart School, we want to remain proactive in keeping the children safe whilst online at school and at home.

The following link is from the National Centre Against Bullying and has some fantastic tips and support strategies for parents to access to keep your children safe whilst online.

https://www.ncab.org.au/bullying-advice/bullying-for-parents/how-to-stop-cyber-bullying/

About one in five school-aged children are cyberbullied in any 12-month period. The effects of this bullying on young people today cannot be underestimated. As most houses have multiple online devices, it is tough for a young person to escape the negativity at home. Below are some practical tips and discussion points that could be had with your children on the topic of cyberbullying.

Responding to cyberbullying

Make sure your child is safe. If anyone is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, call triple zero (000).
Try to stay calm, and get the full story from your child. They may need to go over what happened several times. Then, reassure them that it's never OK to be bullied and that they were right to speak up.
Explain it's never a good idea to retaliate against cyberbullying.
Collect the evidence. This might involve taking screenshots, printing out material, noting down usernames and websites, and saving texts, pictures, videos etc. Make a note of when and where the cyberbullying happened and any witnesses.
Report the behaviour to the social media service or site provider.
If reporting to the site does not get a satisfactory result, consider reporting to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, who has certain powers to investigate, remove content, and offer advice and support. They will need you to provide evidence of what happened.
If the child who did the bullying goes to the same school as your child, consider contacting the school and setting up a proper meeting to plan for addressing any problems in the future. Bring your documentation of what happened, and involve the staff who know the students best.
Ask your child if they know whether the same thing is happening to others. Then, encourage them to support their friends and report any cyberbullying to the school if the perpetrator goes there.
Work with your child to adjust their privacy settings, block other users who bully them, and have a plan for what they will do if something like this happens again.
If necessary, connect your child with counselling to help deal with any distress they may be experiencing.

Tips on how to prevent cyberbullying

Talk about technology with your children. It's OK if they know more than you do.
Reach an agreement about what acceptable online behaviour looks and feels like and how they will spend time online (e.g. homework, social networking, and gaming). If you and your children have regular conversations about the online world, they'll be more likely to talk to you if they are harassed or experiencing cyberbullying or if something feels uncomfortable.
For young children's use and safety, it is appropriate to put filters in place, set security to 'high' and keep a close eye on what they are doing online. And make sure you set agreements about how much time they can allocate to different activities online.
Make sure passwords are changed regularly and kept private even from friends, as friends sometimes become enemies and could use their online accounts in offensive or obnoxious ways. Also, as children become older, supervision needs will diminish as they take responsibility for their own online behaviour.
Many children don't want to talk about stopping cyberbullying or other negative experiences because they fear their access to technology will be removed. Reassure them this won't happen. Cyberbullying is serious and not a case of 'it's just words. Cyber-attacks have a lasting effect and can distress a child in a variety of ways.
Like face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying is usually a relationship problem that starts at school but continues out of school hours, often on privately-owned devices. However, even when the bullying doesn't occur during school hours, it can create serious problems back at school by affecting students' feelings of safety, wellbeing and even their academic progress. Dealing with it, therefore, falls within a school's duty of care.

Managing Anxiety in Primary School Children

Please find below a free webinar for parents and carers to learn more about how to manage anxiety in primary school-aged children.

This online one-hour session will be run by Dr Lauren McLellan titled "What is anxiety and how can you help primary-school-age children manage it?" on Thursday 7th April at 6 pm.

Dr McLellan is a practising clinical psychologist as well as a senior lecturer and researcher within the Faculty of Medicine, Health & Human Sciences at Macquarie University. Her research aims to use technology as a way to increase access to effective treatments for anxious youth, especially for those in rural and remote communities. Her passion for research in this particular area is so that more young people can live emotionally healthy lives.

To register visit: https://it-mqu.formstack.com/forms/ceh_webinar_7_april_2022

School Uniform

All children must now be wearing their full school uniform.

As a condition of the ongoing enrolment of your child at St Raphael's, all parents have signed their commitment to support and abide by the school's Uniform Policy. Therefore, we ask for your cooperation by ensuring your child is wearing the correct school uniform at all times. If your child cannot wear their correct school uniform, please email or write a note to your child's homeroom teacher informing them of the exceptional circumstances.

School Fees

A reminder that all 2022 school fees and levies will receive a $200 discount if paid in full by 4 pm on Friday 29th April. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you are encouraged to contact the school to make an appointment to discuss alternative payment arrangements.

Community News

School Band and Instrument Lessons

Preston Bullants Junior Football Club Auskick

Thornbury High School Open Night

Marcellin College Open Day 27 March 2022

Better Health Program